I decided to take a look at the philosophy on ethics of Jeremy Bentham and the idea of utilitarianism. utilitarianism stemmed from the thinking of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill; in short terms, utilitarianism seeks to improve the happiness of everyone, because not only are we affected by our own actions, but the people who surround us are affected as well. We should do what is right for the group, rather than what is most right for ourselves.
Bentham, a lawyer, believed that laws should only be passed in the interest of the group, not the individual and should maximize the happiness and pleasure of everyone. He also had ideas about "happiness sums", that our happiness could be measured by how much pain or pleasure our feelings produced. Bentham made assumptions that humans will seek pleasure over pain and that happiness could be calculated by that pleasure it brings us. He was very scientific and mathematical in his thought processes and the idea of utilitarianism is very political.
To me, this idea is very strange. My beliefs run alongside Nietzche's beliefs of every man for himself. I think that Bentham had an unrealistic idea of society that everyone will agree and have the same beliefs and they will all always be happy. But in reality, people have very different ideas and morals and we can hardly ever reach a common ground. That's why I believe that we should focus on ourselves, and we are only responsible for our own happiness and our own actions, not the happiness and actions of others.
I think that Bentham had everyone's best interest at heart, utilitarianism, and modern communism is a very unrealistic and unsuccessful way to run society.
Alex,
ReplyDeleteOur research seems to have been very similar, with you investigating Bentham and my investigation of Mill. While both were utilitarian, Bentham was a generation before Mill, and actually tutored him in his youth alongside Mill's father. It is also interesting that you found Nietzche's beliefs more realistic than Bentham's, since Nietzche was one of the philosophers I related to least, while Bentham and Mill were both in my top three. For me, I found that the philosopher survey was sort of geared toward looking at an ideal world, so I can understand how the utilitarian belief system may seem unrealistic; truthfully it is. I wonder if my results in regards to the survey would have changed dramatically if I had been answering questions realistically instead of idealistically.
Alex,
ReplyDeleteI agree that Bentham's ideas were a little crazy but I think his happiness sums were actually a good idea. He didn't expect everyone to agree, the fact that people wouldn't agree is almost the point of the happiness sums. It was similar to a vote, whichever side received more votes was the one that won. Utilitarianism will probably never be a feasible option but I still think the idea behind it is cool.